The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), the kingdom’s main financial enabler for its industrial transformation, has approved 212 loans worth $4.5 billion in 2020.

These loans were for a total of 201 companies involved in different fields such as industry, mining, energy, and logistic services.

The approved loans covered different tiers, out of which 84 per cent of total loans were dedicated to SMEs, ensuring the fund’s strong continuous support to the key contributors of the economic growth in the kingdom, said the statement from SIDF. 

These exceptional results have proven to be the largest in the history of the fund’s history, thus demonstrating, despite the economic pressures of the pandemic, the strength, and resilience of the Saudi private sector, it stated.

Over the past years, the Saudi government has implemented programs to realise Vision 2030 structural, economic, and financial reforms that aim to diversify the economy. Such efforts have played a crucial role in the economy’s sustainability in times of global crisis, it added.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, SIDF said it proactively supported small, medium, and large companies and offered financial initiatives tailored to their specific needs during these difficult times.

The initiatives SIDF offered, which were part of a wider package of governmental support, resulted in three urgent financial aids that exceeded $1.3 billion; the aids were in the form of restructuring installments of 546 loans due in 2020, amounting to $1 billion, said the statement.

The financial liquidity of the companies was augmented by credit instruments to finance the operating expenses of the companies, especially the ones impacted by the lockdown, out of which 86 companies have benefited from the initiative for a total amount of $127 million, it added.

Finally, launching an accelerated working capital loan amounting to $172 million directed to finance the raw material requirements of the companies involved in the medical sector to help in boosting the local medical content and the kingdom’s pharmaceutical security.

SIDF pointed out that its 2021 strategy aims to stimulate investments in priority economic sectors, improve client experience, enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations besides strengthening governance and risk management, and focus on human capital development.

The strategy will position SDIF in driving its support to realise the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, it added.